City BIDs hit out at mayors’ tourist tarriff plea
Business Improvement Districts in Manchester and Liverpool have raised concerns about calls for a visitor tax by combined authority mayors including Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram.
Earlier this month, the mayors of Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, the North East, West Yorkshire, and the West Midlands made a joint plea to government for powers to introduce a tourist tax.
They said the tax, similar to those in operation in many European destinations, would unlock funding for tourism and cultural infrastructure and drive regional growth.
At present, cities do not have the power to enforce a visitor tax. The mayors have asked for that to be changed.
In response, the Manchester and Liverpool BIDs have sent an open letter to the government urging caution.
The letter, also signed by the Manchester Hoteliers Association and Chester Hospitality Association, points out that there are already “successful” levies currently in place in Manchester and Liverpool. These are managed by the city’s ABIDs – accommodation business improvement districts.
“The overnight visitor levies are administered by the hotels who have, collectively, put individual systems in place to manage the collection,” the letter states.
The BIDs are concerned that moving to a “politically-led” tourist tax would raise uncertainty about how the proceeds are spent and potentially take vital funding away from a “beleaguered” sector.
There are worries that “vague legislation” [could] generate huge amounts” for a city but mean that hotels and the hospitality sector “have no say in investment”, like in Edinburgh, where the BIDs claim the planned introduction of a levy “has alienated the private sector and hotels”.
The BIDs believe the levies currently in operation in Manchester and Liverpool is a “proven working model… that focuses on driving forward a sustainable visitor economy and fundamentally increasing visits, not dissuading them, as exemplified by the tourist taxes in Venice, Amsterdam and Lisbon”.
A tourist tax like the ones being pursued by the mayors “risks unpicking all of the good work done by the private sector in building a flourishing and thriving visitor economy among some of our hardest hit communities”, the letter states.
